"Their philanthropy really carries on the legacy of their family in supporting arts and culture, medicine and causes ... critical to the vitality of Detroit."

— Nina Holden, College for Creative Studies

College for Creative Studies

President Richard Rogers said Lynn Ford Alandt and Paul Alandt never seek recognition for their philanthropy, despite their charitable efforts.

"We feel their generosity is so great. ... They are just really great people," Rogers said. "They do amazing things."

Lynn has been on the board of trustees of CCS since 1995. Currently, she is vice chairman. Paul Alandt also owns Harper Woods-based Crest Automotive Group.

Rogers said the Alandts' work extends beyond CCS and into the community. Besides her position on the CCS board, Lynn Alandt is on the board of Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System and The Henry Ford in Dearborn. She is a great-granddaughter of Henry Ford and cousin of Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford.

"Their philanthropy really carries on the legacy of their family in supporting arts and culture, medicine and causes that have always been important to the Ford family and are critical to the vitality of Detroit," said Nina Holden, vice president of institutional advancement at CCS.

Holden said Lynn Alandt is always one of the first to dive into any new project at CCS. Support from the Alandts drives others to get involved, as well. Recently, they have been involved in the CCS capital campaign, and they continually fund scholarships.

Eugene Gargaro Jr.

EUGENE GARGARO JR.

Chairman of the board of directors, Detroit Institute of Arts

George W. Romney Award for Lifetime Achievement in Volunteerism

Quote:

"The Gene that I observe is extremely diligent, extremely hardworking, extremely thoughtful and sensitive in dealing with difficult issues."

— Graham Beal, Detroit Institute of Arts

Eugene Gargaro Jr. said his success with the organizations he's involved with comes from a passion for the causes and a commitment to leadership.

"It's not just about me, it's about we," Gargaro said. "There are so many people who I work with, and I'm part of different groups that contribute to the success we have been able to achieve. I'm accepting the award on behalf of a great group of people."

Gargaro has chaired the board of the Detroit Institute of Arts for 10 years. He was vice president and secretary of Taylor-based Masco Corp. when he retired in 2008.

One of his proudest achievements related to volunteerism is the passing in August of a 10-year operating millage for the DIA by voters in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.

"We wanted to create a sustainable future for the museum so the benefits we all enjoy could continue for generations to come," Gargaro said.

Graham Beal, director, president and CEO of the DIA, said Gargaro's work on the millage campaign was tantamount to a full-time job. Gargaro worked with other museum staff members to win support for the millage, Beal said.

"The Gene that I observe is extremely diligent, extremely hardworking, extremely thoughtful and sensitive in dealing with difficult issues," Beal said.

Gargaro was also chairman of the Great Art New Start campaign, which ran from 2003 to 2005 and raised $137 million for the museum.

Along with his involvement with the DIA, Gargaro has worked with the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, Citizens Research Council and University of Detroit Mercy.

Matt Cullen

MATT CULLEN

President and CEO, Rock Ventures LLC, Detroit

Edmund T. Ahee Jewel Award for Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser

Quote:

"He's been a leader. He is able to see projects before they come to life."

— Nathaniel Warshay, Henry Ford Health System

Matt Cullen calls Detroit his hometown, and that personal connection is what compels him to get involved.

"I think people can come together around a shared vision," Cullen said. "Good leadership can make a profound difference. If we want our community to be the kind of place we aspire to, we need people to get engaged."

Aside from his day job as president and CEO of Rock Ventures LLC, Cullen is the volunteer CEO of the M-1 Rail light-rail-line initiative, the founding chairman of the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy and chairman of Invest Detroit, among many other endeavors.

Cullen was nominated for the award by Henry Ford Health System. The health system's senior grant officer, Nathaniel Warshay, said Henry Ford benefits from everything Cullen does in the area.

"He's been a leader," Warshay said. "He is able to see projects before they come to life."

M-1 is one that Cullen thinks is vitally important to the area, generating about $120 million philanthropically for capital and operating costs. That kind of support shows the strength that a public-private partnership can have around a cause everyone is passionate about, he said.

"It's clear that there are people that are committed to making a difference," Cullen said.

"It's kind of easy to contribute something financially, but to actually get engaged ... is an entirely different level of commitment."PNC FOUNDATION

Troy

Outstanding Corporation Award

Quote:

The PNC Foundation is "sending a message that they are investing in the future of our community by really helping kids that are disadvantaged. They are doing everything they can to give them the right start."

— Paula Brown, Starfish Family Services

PNC Bank came to Southeast Michigan in late 2009 and didn't waste time making an impact in the community.

In 2010, it pledged $1.5 million to the Detroit Public Schools Foundation as part of the bank's $350 million, multiyear, national Grow Up Great initiative, meant to benefit children from birth to age 5.

In 2012, PNC has given early childhood education grants totaling more than $1.2 million to organizations in the region. Some that benefit from Grow Up Great include the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, Gleaners Community Food Bank and the Dearborn Public Schools Education Foundation.

DeVore

PNC's regional president for Southeast Michigan, Ric DeVore, called the award "extremely satisfying because it tells me that our work is not only relevant, but it's being recognized."

The PNC Foundation is the largest contributor to Starfish Family Services' Parent Empowerment Program, which teaches effective-parenting classes. Over the past three years, PNC has donated more than $125,000 to the Inkster nonprofit's program.

Besides money, PNC provides volunteers who paint and clean classrooms and read to the children at Starfish. PNC employees are given time throughout the year to volunteer, and DeVore said the regional market has a 75 percent volunteer participation rate among its 1,400 employees.

Paula Brown, chief development officer at Starfish Family Services, said the PNC Foundation is "sending a message that they are investing in the future of our community by really helping kids that are disadvantaged. They are doing everything they can to give them the right start."

Dan Alpert

DAN ALPERT

Senior vice president of development and communications, Detroit Public Television

Dr. John S. Lore Award for Outstanding Fundraising Executive

Quote:

"He's very willing to roll up his sleeves and do whatever is required of him in the furtherance of the station. He has a very broad and deep knowledge of production, focus and mission."

— Melonie Colaianne, Detroit Public Television

Dan Alpert, senior vice president of development and communications for Detroit Public Television, attributes his success in fundraising for the station to his listening skills.

Alpert, who has been with the station 36 years, has been listening to donors, viewers and co-workers to gain knowledge of what the station can offer and how it works.

"I don't think of myself as a fundraiser," he said. "I think of myself as an explainer."

Melonie Colaianne, who chairs the board of trustees for DPTV, said Alpert plays a part in nearly every gift the station receives. But the $22 million capital campaign in the mid-2000s was the largest and the one that Alpert is most proud of.

The station was in the "doldrums" of the campaign when he was named interim general manger in 2007, Alpert said.

He took over the campaign -- which was to fund digital conversion, the move into a new building and other equipment -- until a permanent general manager was hired to complete the campaign.

An understanding of all that the station does allows Alpert to make connections between what donors want their money to do and what the station can offer.

Alpert's knowledge of DPTV not only enables him to make better connections with donors, but it also makes him interesting to talk with. Colaianne said Alpert is a veritable historian of the station.

"He's very willing to roll up his sleeves and do whatever is required of him in the furtherance of the station," Colaianne said. "He has a very broad and deep knowledge of production, focus and mission. He's sort of the go-to guy."

Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb

FRED A. AND BARBARA M. ERB FAMILY FOUNDATION

Bloomfield Hills

Outstanding Foundation Award

Quote:

"I think that my parents have always been very involved and concerned about environmental issues. They also are very concerned with the vitality of the community. We have so many opportunities to reinvent our city in an environmentally sustainable manner."

— John Erb, Erb Family Foundation

Jenenne Whitfield, executive director of The Heidelberg Project, said the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation demonstrated its commitment to the community before it even made a donation.

Representatives from the foundation visited the site of the art project on Detroit's east side to ask questions and get engaged with the organization before making its initial gift of $125,000 in 2009.

"It really demonstrated that that foundation seemed to really care about what was happening in Detroit in a way that was really meaningful," Whitfield said.

Foundation President John Erb said the nonprofit, founded by his parents, Fred and Barbara Erb, is centered on environmental issues, arts and culture, and special causes.

"We are hands-on with some grants and some organizations to get to understand and know them," Erb said.

"We want to make sure we know and understand who we are making grants to and it lines up with what we believe and what we want to accomplish."

The Erb Family Foundation started making grants in 2008. Its first three were to Oak Park-based Forgotten Harvest, the Salvation Army Eastern Michigan Division and The Heat and Warmth Fund in Detroit. It now operates with a $5 million annual grant-making budget.

"I think that my parents have always been very involved and concerned about environmental issues. They also are very concerned with the vitality of the community," Erb said.

"We have so many opportunities to reinvent our city in an environmentally sustainable manner."TEEN GRANTMAKING INITIATIVE AT THE CENTER FOR ARAB AMERICAN PHILANTHROPY

Dearborn

Sparky Anderson Award for Youth in Philanthropy

Quote:

"I think they are a group of young people who really want to do something positive ... in a way that is empowering for them and not just someone else telling them what to do."

— Jamie Kim, Center for Arab American Philanthropy

Haneen Ali, a senior at Fordson High School in Dearborn, said the Teen Grantmaking Initiative at the Center for Arab American Philanthropy has helped her and others in the program realize the difference they can make in their community.

"It's a very humbling experience," Ali said. "We don't even have a voice in an adult world. But being able to say where this money goes, it has helped us find a voice."

The Teen Grantmaking Initiative, launched in 2011, runs throughout the school year and has about 20 young people involved.

Kim

Jamie Kim, a consultant with the Center for Arab American Philanthropy and an adult adviser to the Teen Grantmaking Initiative, said young people in were recruited from ACCESS ACTS, a program of the Arab Community Center for Economic & Social Services that stresses teen community service.

"When we brought them together, the big thing they talked about was wanting to make a difference and make an impact," Kim said. "I think they are a group of young people who really want to do something positive ... in a way that is empowering for them and not just someone else telling them what to do."

In its first year, the Teen Grantmaking Initiative made grants to 12 organizations totaling about $4,600. It received about 24 applications for grants, and Kim said the young people decided who would get funding.

For the 2012-13 school year, Kim said, the teenagers are being challenged to raise funds on their own by soliciting businesses and through car washes and matching gifts from friends and family and major donors. The program used funds from the Center for Arab American Philanthropy for last year's project.

Mitch Albom

MITCH ALBOM

Author and columnist, Detroit Free Press

Neal Shine Award for Media Commitment to Philanthropy

Quote:

"For a guy who is as busy as he is, … it's amazing how much time he devotes to philanthropic activities."

— Richard Rogers, College

Mitch Albom's charitable contributions can be felt throughout the city of Detroit. Taking advice from his former college professor Morrie Schwartz, the Detroit Free Press columnist and author said he wants to do more than just write checks.

"For a guy who is as busy as he is, ... it's amazing how much time he devotes to philanthropic activities," said Richard Rogers, president of the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. CCS nominated Albom for the award, named after the late Free Press editor and publisher.

Rogers said Albom is no "short-term philanthropist." He has been involved with CCS for more than 20 years and started the Dream Fund and Detroit Dream Scholarship Fund with the college.

The Dream Fund was started in 1992 to help underserved city youth get involved in the arts. Albom launched the Detroit Dream Scholarship Fund in 2011 and provided one $60,000 scholarship. He challenged donors in the area to give and has to date raised more than $435,000, according to his website.

"The CCS scholarships are very personal to me," Albom wrote in an email. "These scholarships take our best and brightest young artists and remove the economic barrier that might block them from flourishing."

Albom also founded S.A.Y. Detroit and leads projects for A Time to Help. He also founded A Hole in the Roof Foundation, which helps faith groups improve the service they provide to the homeless. Working Homes/Working Families, another of his charities, repurposes abandoned or donated homes to give to families in need.